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Tech tip for RCN Internet customers
By adamg on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 11:35am
Aaron Cohen reports that if you really want to get help with a problem, e-mail them or just post your complaint to them on Twitter rather than wasting your time on hold on the phone.
In his case, that's how he got a fix for an RCN "service" he didn't want - if he mistyped a URL, he'd get some RCN page instead of a Google page.
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Comments
why would a mistyped URL redirect to Google, either?
By default, the browser should just say "Host not found", not try to send the user to a search engine.
Depends on the browser, client machine and ISP DNS
On my laptop here, when I mistype a URL in Internet Explorer, I get some Dell page wrapped around a Google search box (Firefox refuses to put up with that and just returns its basic "Hey, idiot, learn to type" page). Fortunately, my ISP, which is now owned by Best Buy, has yet to try to redirect typos to the parent company site.
This is generally
This is generally configurable. If we're talking about Firefox: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Keyword.URL
FIOS has the same "feature"
This site tells you how to disable this Verizon ad page http://domnit.org/verizon/ . Or you can Google "fios dns redirect" to find other solutions.
Unfortunately the steps to fix it are not for the faint of heart. It involves going into your wireless router and changing advanced settings. It's not hard per se, just super intimidating if you're not technical.
Comcast has it too
Comcast has been rolling this out recently as well, but to their credit (I know, I'm shocked as well!) it can be easily disabled from the comcast.net customer interface.
I wish
Four fucking phone calls to Comcast (each time, they have no idea what I'm talking about, have to put me on hold, etc) and I still get the damn thing.
For those that don't know: the problem is that DNS (the function of going from www.universalhub.com to a numerical address so your computer can talk to UHub's server) is designed to handle a "not found" situation VERY SPECIFICALLY. Ie: with an error back to your computer that says, "nope, not found." What comcast and an increasing number of ISPs do is violate internet protocols and standards, and instead configure their DNS server to reply to EVERYTHING as if it existed, but change the numbered address to point to their own server if the name doesn't actually exist.
It's a stupidly irritating and shameless moneygrab- they're getting a few cents here and there off it, and for that they're fucking with the basics of how the internet is supposed to work.
those of us who are good
those of us who are good with computers might find this annoying to no end, but it could be very helpful for people who are bad at typing or remembering URLs or are just generally not tech-savvy. if you don't like it, disable it.
and it's not always the ISP. if you don't install their software, that might not happen. some google software might do it too, or any of those search toolbars one might install.